Presser foot for sewing machines

ABSTRACT

A zipper foot assembly compatible with both household and industrial sewing machines including a foot having a longitudinal fastener element guide groove and a plurality of needle-receiving recesses, a first plate member formed integrally with and extending upright from one end of the foot, and a second plate member slidably mounted on and detachable from the first plate member. The second plate member is provided centrally therein with an opening which registers with a slot formed in the first plate member for receiving threadedly therein a screw passing through said slot and with a pair of opposed presser bar holders for securing the foot assembly to the presser bar of the sewing machine.

, United States Patent [72] Inventor Kiichi Yoshikawa Toyonaka-shi, Osaka-fu, Japan [21 Appl. No. 805,448

[22] Filed Mar. 10, 1969 [45] Patented Jan. 19, 1971 [73] Assignee Yoshida Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Tokyo, Japan [3 2] Priority Mar. 27, 1968 [54] PRESSER FOOT FOR SEWING MACHINES Primary Examiner-Patrick D. Lawson Attorney-Nolte and Nolte ABSTRACT: A zipper foot assembly compatible with both household and industrial sewing machines including a foot having a longitudinal fastener element guide groove and a plurality of needle-receiving recesses, a first plate member formed integrally with and extending upright from one end of the foot, and a second plate member slidably mounted on and detachable from the first plate member. The second plate member is provided centrally therein with an opening which registers with a slot formed in the first plate member for receiving threadedly therein a screw passing through said slot and with a pair of opposed presser bar holders for securing the foot assembly to the presser bar of the sewing machine.

' PATENTEDJAMSBH 3556028 SHEET 1 OF 2 INVENTOR KIICHI YOSHIKAWA T'TORNEY S PATENTED m awn 35561328 x SHEETZUFZ INVENTOR KIICHI YOSHIKAWA which is usable for sewing slide fastener tapes upon garments or the like and more particularly to such'presser foot which may be advantageously employed for both household and industrial-type sewing machines.

It has hitherto been necessary to select among a variety of presser foots the one suitable for a particular make of sewing machine and to change in some instances the various foot components to fit the type of presser bar construction that is to be used. This is particularly true where a'presser bar is to be used for both industrial and household sewing machines.

- The difference between industrial and household sewing machines so far as concerns the function of a presser foot lies in the construction of the presser bar to which the foot is to be connected. More particularly, this difference with most commercial sewing machines is found basically in the height of presser bar with respect to the plane of a table of the machine on which the garment is disposed. It is for this reason that the industrial-type of sewing machine is often called "high shank" and the household-type low shank."

it is an object of the present invention to provide a zipper presser foot having a simple attachment to make the foot compatible with both low and high shank sewing machines.

According to the invention there is provided a presser foot for sewing machines having either a low shank or a high shank presser bar which comprises a foot member provided with at least a longitudinal groove for guiding fastener elements therein and with a plurality of needle receiving recesses, a plate member having a horizontally elongated slot therein, said plate member formed integrally with the foot member and extending upright from one end thereof, and means slidably mounted on and detachable from the plate member for retaining the presser bar of the sewing machine in adjusted position, said means provided centrally with an opening which registers with the slot of the plate member for receiving threadedly. therein a screw passing through the slot with a pair of opposed presser bar holders for securement to the presser bar, on of which holders having its operative position vertically displaced from that of the other.

The novel features and combinations of parts constituting the inventive concept of this invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing and from the appended claims.

In the drawings: v

FIG. 1 is a perspectiveview of a presser foot embodying the invention showing the same as in adjusted position for assembly; 7

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one form of a platelike household sewing machine attachment featuring the invention for connecting the body of the presser foot to a presser bar of a sewing machine;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the platelike attachment of FIG.

FIG. 4 is front elevational view of the same; FIG. 5 is front elevational view of the same inverted in position on the body of the presser foot for use on an industrialtype sewing machine;

v and a plate member 11 integral therewith. The foot member 10 has a longitudinally elongated slot or guide groove 12 for guiding interrneshed fastener elements therein when the foot member is pressed down against the garment sewn on a sewing machine (not shown). in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the foot member 10 is provided with three arcuate needle-receiving recesses 13 which are formed in the forward portion of the foot member 10 and aligned transversely thereof. One of said recesses is formed in one side edge of the foot member and the remaining two recesses symmetrically in opposite sides of the guideway 12. A further needle-receiving recess may be formed in the same manner in the other side edge of the foot member 10.

The plate member 11 extends integrally with and upright from the foot member 10 so that the assembly assumes a side elevational configuration of substantially L-shape as viewed from the left-hand side of the drawing.

Slidably mounted astride over the upper and lower edges l4, 15 of the plate member 11 is a platelike attachment 16, for which purpose the latter has its upper and lower edges flanged as at 17 and 18 to provide a guideway therebetween.

The attachment 16 which is equivalently termed retaining means" in the appended claims, is provided with a pair of jaws or presser bar holders 19, 20 projecting inwardly from opposite sides thereof for securing the presser foot to the presser bar or shank (not shown) extending downwardly from the sewing machine. The attachment 16 is also provided centrally therein with an opening 21 which registers with a horizontally elongated slot 22 formed in the plate member 11 and which threadedly receives a threaded screw 23 partially shown in dotted lines. With this construction, it will be understood that when the attachment 16 is secured to the presser bar with the screw 23 held in loosened disposition, the attachment 16 may be moved relative to the plate member 11, adjusted laterally with respect to the presser bar and thus secured in any adjusted position allowed by the length of the elongated slot 22 by tightening the screw 23 into the threaded opening 21.

The attachment 16 is designed for adaptation to either of the relative positions of the two presser bars for reasons discussed below, holders 19, 20 being so disposed as to ensure the compatibility of the presser foot for both low and high shank sewing machines.

The difference in the height of shank or presser bar of a household sewing machine from that of an industrial-type sewing machine is constant at a certain value. This value may be taken into consideration in determining the relative position of the two presser bar holders 19, 20 with respect to the horizontal centerline X-X shown in FIG. 4 of the threaded opening 21 of the attachment 16. in one form of the attachment 16 shown be FIGS. 1 through 5, inclusive, one of the holders 19, 20 has its center spaced a slightly greater distance A apart from the horizontal centerline X-X of the opening 21 than a distance B by which the center of the other holder is spaced similarly apart from the centerline X-X. The sum of these distances A and B corresponds to the difference in the height of presser bar between household and industrial-type sewing machines. With this construction, it will be seen that the presser foot 1 may be adapted for either a household or an industrial-type sewing machine simply by inverting the position of the attachment 16. The position of the attachment 16 shown in FIG. 5 is inverted from that shown in FIG. 1 so that the left-presser bar holder 20 may be secured to a high shank or industrial-type presser bar.

The compatibility effect of the presser bar according to the invention may be provided also by the arrangement shown in H6. 6 wherein the one presser bar holder 20 protrudes above the flanged edge 18 and has its center displaced a distance A away from the centerline X-X. This distance A is far greater than a distance B by which the center of the other presser bar holder 19 is displaced from the centerline XX. In this instance, the difference between the two distances A and B corresponds to the difference in the height of presser bar between household and industrial-type sewing machines. Another modification of the attachment 16 is shown in FIG. 7 wherein the one presser bar holder 19 has its center disposed in alignment with the centerline X-X so that distance A by which the center of the other presser bar holder 20 is spaced apart from the centerline X-X corresponds to the difference between low and high shank presser bars.

it is known and common that the operative position of the sewing needle difiers to and fro also between household and industrial-type sewing machines. To compensate for this positional difference, the attachment 16 for retaining the presser foot in adjusted position has one of the two presser bar holders projected relative to the other above the plane of the attachment 16. This is specifically shown in FIG. 3 wherein the amount of forward projection C of the one presser bar holder is compared with that C of the other. Alternatively, the needle-receiving recesses 13 may be elongated longitudinally as seen in FIG. 8 so as to accommodate the sewing needle in both household and industrial-type sewing machines.

lclaim:

1. A presser foot for sewing machines having either a low shank or a high shank presser bar which comprises a foot member provided with at least one longitudinal groove for guiding fastener elements therein and with a plurality of needle-receiving recesses, a plate member having a horizontally elongated slot therein, said plate member formed integrally with the foot member and extending upright from one end thereof, and means slidably mounted on and detachable from the plate member for retaining the presser foot in adjusted position relative to the presser bar of the sewing machine, said means provided centrally with an opening which registers with the slot of the plate member for receiving threadedly therein a screw passing through the slot and with a pair of opposed presser bar holders each being adapted for securement to the presser bar, one of which holders having its operative position vertically displaced from that of the other.

2. A presser foot as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of the presser bar holders has its center in horizontal alignment with the center of the screw receiving opening.

3. A presser foot as claimed in claim I wherein the presser bar holders are vertically displaced from a line horizontally across the center of the screw receiving opening.

4. A presser foot as claimed in claim 1 wherein the retaining means has one presser bar holder projecting forwardly relative to the other.

5. A presser foot as claimed in claim 1 wherein the needlereceiving recesses are elongated longitudinally of the foot member.

6. A presser foot as claimed in claim 1 wherein the needlereceiving recesses are aligned with one another in a direction at right angles to the line of stitching. 

1. A presser foot for sewing machines having either a low shank or a high shank presser bar which comprises a foot member provided with at least one longitudinal groove for guiding fastener elements therein and with a plurality of needlereceiving recesses, a plate member having a horizontally elongated slot therein, said plate member formed integrally with the foot member and extending upright from one end thereof, and means slidably mounted on and detachable from the plate member for retaining the presser foot in adjusted position relative to the presser bar of the sewing machine, said means provided centrally with an opening which registers with the slot of the plate member for receiving threadedly therein a screw passing through the slot and with a pair of opposed presser bar holders each being adapted for securement to the presser bar, one of which holders having its operative position vertically displaced from that of the other.
 2. A presser foot as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of the presser bar holders has its center in horizontal alignment with the center of the screw receiving opening.
 3. A presser foot as claimed in claim 1 wherein the presser bar holders are vertically displaced from a line horizontally across the center of the screw receiving opening.
 4. A presser foot as claimed in claim 1 wherein the retaining means has one presser bar holder projecting forwardly relative to the other.
 5. A presser foot as claimed in claim 1 wherein the needle-receiving recesses are elongated longitudinally of the foot member.
 6. A presser foot as claimed in claim 1 wherein the needle-receiving recesses are aligned with one another in a direction at right angles to the line of stitching. 